Overview
- Heavy, short‑duration showers over the last 24–48 hours caused localised flooding and prompted Met Office flash‑flood warnings in parts of the North West and the south coast.
- Environment Agency monitors recorded intense 24‑hour totals including 52.5mm at Morecambe and 32mm at Pevensey Bay, showing rain fell hard but unevenly.
- Officials say parched, compacted ground stops water soaking in so runoff rises quickly, which increases flood risk even while the wider drought persists.
- Regulators have stepped up drought coordination with weekly National Drought Group meetings and have applied for a developing drought order for the River Severn that would cut abstraction by 5% if approved.
- Reservoirs remain well below normal at about 62.6% of capacity and experts say months of sustained autumn and winter rainfall are needed for river and reservoir recovery, with farmers already receiving targeted support.